The city of San Mateo in San Mateo County, California has nearly 96,000 people. As one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, the city has a lower than average accident rate. San Mateo injury attorneys attribute this to the city's comprehensive traffic enforcement programs.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, accident statistics from 2001 to 2003 show that San Mateo had six fatal car collisions. This averages out to 0.6 fatal San Mateo car crashes per 12,000 people--far below the national norm.
In 2005, San Mateo implemented a Red-Light Photo Enforcement program. The city installed red-light cameras at major crash-prone intersections. These included cameras at Hillsdale and Saratoga Drive, Hillsdale and Norfolk Street, 4th Avenue and Humboldt Street, El Camino Real and Ralston Avenue, and Ralston Ave and Old County Road.
To address residents' concerns related to speeding, and to further bring down its accident rate, San Mateo adopted a number of Traffic Calming Procedures. Calming efforts included installing speed humps on Edinburgh Street between Virginia Avenue and Fordham Road. This was based on recent speed surveys that indicated speed humps slowed traffic on Edinburgh by from 32 mph to 25 mph.
The San Mateo Police Department kept the pressure on speeders with advanced laser equipment and new radar guns. The city was determined to slow down motorists and reduce the number of crash injuries. Statistics compiled by the city showed that speed is a major factor in injury crashes.
Another major factor in car crashes is the drunk driver. To keep these impaired drivers off the road, San Mateo County swung into action with its Avoid the 23 campaign. The effort united the resources of 23 county law enforcement agencies to come down on drunk drivers using such tools as public education, community help and strict, responsive enforcement.
